9475. “和香料的焚香” 表为了愉悦的感知. 这从 “焚香” 和 “香料” 的含义清楚可知:

“焚香” 是指被愉悦感知到的敬拜的事物, 如感恩, 崇拜, 祈祷等行为;

“香料” 是指令人愉悦的信之真理, 因为它们源于良善. 事实上, 甜味照它们的芳香而表示令人愉悦之物; 凡令人愉悦之物都是凭通过真理而显明的良善而如此的. 正因如此,

“香料的焚香” 表示属于源于良善的真理的愉悦感知. 下面这些话列举了合成这焚香的香料, 并描述了它的制作过程:

你要取香料, 就是拿他弗, 施喜列, 白松香; 这馨香的香料和净乳香. 你要将这个作成香, 用盐调剂, 洁净而神圣. 你要把这香取点儿捣得极细, 放一些在会幕内法柜前. 你们要以这香为至圣. 要以这香为圣, 归耶和华.(出埃及记 30:34-37)

香坛和烧香本身被描述如下:

你要作一座烧香的坛. 要用纯金把坛包裹. 要把坛放在施恩座前法柜上面的幔子前面, 亚伦要每早晨在坛上烧香料作的香; 他收拾灯的时候, 要烧这香. 傍晚之间, 他也要烧这香.(出埃及记 30:1-8; 37:25-29; 40:26, 27)

别处:

亚伦进圣所, 要拿香炉, 从坛上盛满火炭; 又拿一捧捣细的香料, 都带入幔子内. 在耶和华面前, 把香放在火上, 使香的烟云遮掩法柜上的施恩座.(利未记 16:3, 12, 13)

由于 “香” 表示诸如来源于通过真理而显明的良善的敬拜行为, 如来源于爱之良善的信之所有事物一样, 所以火是从坛上取的; 因为 “祭坛的火” 表示神之爱的良善 (934, 4906, 5071节的末尾,5215, 6314, 6832, 6834, 6849, 7324, 7852节). 因此, 当火从任何其它源头取得时, 他们便遭瘟疫而死亡 (利未记 10:1, 2; 民数记 16:45-48); 因为来自任何其它源头的火, 或 “凡火” 表示不属神的爱.

来源于爱和仁之良善的信的这类事物, 如感恩, 崇拜和祈祷, 由 “香” 来表示, 这一点清楚可见于下列经文:

愿我的祷告如香在你面前蒙悦纳.(诗篇 141:2)

启示录:

四活物和二十四位长老就俯伏在羔羊面前, 各拿着竖琴和盛满了香的金碗; 这香就是众圣徒的祈祷.(启示录 5:8)

又:

另有一位天使拿着金香炉来. 有许多香赐给他, 要和众圣徒的祈祷一同献在宝座前的金坛上. 那香的烟从众圣徒的祈祷中上升.(启示录 8:3, 4)

“香” 之所以表示这类事物, 是因为它们属于思维, 因而属于口唇. 不过, 在玛拉基书,

“素祭” 表示属于情感, 因而属于心的事物:

从日出之地到日落之处, 耶和华的名在列族中必尊为大. 在各处, 人必奉我的名烧香, 献洁净的素祭.(玛拉基书 1:11)

摩西五经中的 “燔祭” 也表示这些事物:

利未人要将你的典章教训雅各, 将你的律法教训以色列; 他们要把香放在你鼻孔里, 把燔祭献在你的坛上.(申命记 33:10)

此处 “香” 表示诸如属于思维和口唇, 与信之真理有关的那类事物;

“素祭” 和 “燔祭” 表示诸如属于情感和心, 与爱之良善有关的那类事物. 因此, 就反面意义而言,

“向别神烧香” (耶利米书 1:16; 44:3, 5),

“向偶像烧香” (以西结书 8:11; 16:18), 以及 “向巴力烧香” (何西阿书 2:13) 则表示由信之虚假所产生的敬拜.

People who are truly in love know that marriage is one of the greatest blessings the Lord has given people. But there's a lot of confusion and doubt about marriage these days. Let's take a look at what the Bible says about it, beginning at the very beginning. The very fact that the Lord has created us male and female (Genesis 1:27) seems to indicate that marriage is the intended condition for people.

In the Adam and Eve story, the Lord says, "It is not good that the man should be alone." (Genesis 2:18). Therefore, He creates Eve. It's a very ancient story that depicts marriage as one of God's blessings for humanity, part of his plan for people.

God's blessing on the first marriage makes this even more clear: "And God blessed them and said to them, 'Be fruitful and multiply.'" (Genesis 1:28)

Not only does marriage have the Lord's blessing - it is also phrased as a commandment in this passage from the prophet Jeremiah: "Thus says the Lord of Hosts, the God of Israel.... Take wives and beget sons and daughters, and take wives for your sons and give your daughters to husbands, so that they may bear sons and daughters--that you may be increased there, and not diminished.'" (Jeremiah 29:6)

King Solomon said, "He who finds a wife finds a good thing, and obtains favor from the Lord." (Proverbs 18:22)

In the Gospel of Matthew, Jesus has a telling response to the Pharisees who are quizzing him about divorce:

Jesus answered, "Have you not read that from the beginning the Creator 'made them male and female', and said, 'For this reason a man will leave his father and mother and be united to his wife, and the two will become one flesh. So they are no longer two, but one flesh. Therefore what God has joined together, let man not separate'." (Matthew 19:4-6)

In the text of the Bible, there are also frequent references to a marriage between the Lord and His Church, where the church is made up of the people who love the Lord and follow his commandments. This is a different sort of marriage than the one between husband and wife, but some of the same ideals of love and reciprocity and conjunction are presented.

"As the bridegroom rejoices over the bride, so shall your God rejoice over you." (Isaiah 62:5)

"Your Maker is your husband: The Lord of Hosts is His name." (Isaiah 54:5)

"'Turn, O backsliding children,' says the Lord, 'for I am married to you.'" (Jeremiah 3:14)

"Let us be glad and rejoice, and give glory to Him, for the marriage of the Lamb has come, and His wife has made herself ready." (Revelation 19:7).

See also Jeremiah 31:32; Isaiah 49:18, 61:10; Jeremiah 2:32; Hosea 2:2; Ezekiel 16; Matthew 22:2-9; 25:1-10; Luke 5:34; Revelation 21:2, 9; 22:17, etc.

From all this, it seems pretty clear that there's strong support in the Bible for marriage.

That said, there are also some passages that have led people in other directions. In some of Paul's letters, there are some things which can be taken to mean that marriage is less chaste than celibacy. In answering a question from the Saduccees, Jesus says that in heaven, they neither marry nor are given in marriage. What did he mean by that? We will dig into these issues in separate topics, or in an extension to this one... but, overall, the Bible's pretty clear that marriage is part of the Lord's design for us, and that our physical, earthly marriages represent a spiritual marriage, too.